Method of making seamless uppers



ing the material subjecting it to a tanning Patented July 24, 1923.

NITE' sr DANIEL G. CARTER, or rvrosrrn'nvr, rnnnnssnn.

METHOD or MAKING SEAMLESS Urrnns.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may-concern: I

Be it known that I, DANIEL G. CARTER, citizen of the United States,residing at Mosheim, in the county of Greene and State of Tennessee,have invented new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making SeamlessUppers, of which the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of boots,shoes, and other articles of leather, and proposes a. method forproducingia seamless,-shaped article the form of which is maintained,not by stressin anyway, but by a set which i inherently acquired by thematerial in the course of'manufacture of the article, which setdetermines: that the form of the article shall be the position of reposeofthe material, to which position said material tends always to returnwhen forced to deviate therefrom. a

As applied to the manufacture of seamless shoe uppers, my inventionbroadly contemplates the shaping of the upper to the required form froma piece of green hide which is plastic or pliable, and then setting theshape of said upper by subjecting it to a tanning process.

More specifically, my invention is consummated by the method of firstbending the green hide around a form or last having the desired shape,holding it on the last while process a suflicient length of time topermanently set its shape,

removlng it from the last and completing the tanning process.

It is well known that in tanning hides, having the usual form ofsubstantially fiat sheets, the tanning process gives the leather apermanent set so that when it is subsequently bent, in the act of makingshaped articles, there is always the tendency of the material to returnto the flat position. In the making of shoe uppers from tanned hides itis therefore necessary to cut out portions of the pattern or blank fromwhich the upper is mad-e, and to bring the cut edges together in seamsin order to attain the requisite shape of the finished upper. 0r if aseamless upper is the object in view, it is then essential to resort tocrimping, pressing or stiffening the leather while held in the desiredform, so as to cause it to retain the shape impressed upon it.

All of the prior methods of treatment in shaping the upper from tannedleather fail Application filed February 25, 1922. Serial No. 539,305.

to give a high degree of permanence to said shape, due to the. originalset of the tanned sheet from which the upper is *turnedup. And when theupper becomes subject tofiexure during use, the effect of whatever shaperetaining expedient may have been used, is

nullified and the leather tends to revert to its originalform as tanned,causing the shoe into which the upper is fabricated to become misshapen.

By my improved method the upper is made from green or untanned. hide,after the preliminary treatment of the latter inclu'ding soaking,fleshing, liming, and; de hairlng has been completed.

When a hide has reached this stageiof treatment it is substantiallywhite in color and consists of a fibrous gelatinous substance which hasthe peculiar property, of

being substantially plastic or perfectly pliable, by the use of whichterms I mean that it has'no predominant set or position ofgrepose, butmay be bent into any position and w ll remain in said posltion withoutan inclmation to revert to, or assume another shape. When the term greenhide is used in the specification and claims it refers to a hide whichhas reached this stage of treatment and is characterized by this qualityof plasticity.

In the carryin tern or blank 0% the appropriate shape is made from thegreen hide, placed upon a last and shaped to the conformation of saidout of my method, apat-v last with the hand or with any suitable I pieceof apparatus. It is held in position on the last by lacing, or by anydesirable securing means. The last and pattern are then subjected to atanning process for a sur'iicient length of time to cause the pattern tobecome permanently set in the shape to which it is conformed by contactwith the last. The processof tanning could be carried to completion withthe pattern upon the last, but in order to make the maximum number ofuppers with the minimum number of lasts, and to conserve the spacewithin thetanning vat, the pattern is removed from the last before thecompletion of the tanning process, but not until the latter has beencarried on far enough to have given the permanent shape to the pattern.The partially tanned upper is then nested with the number of I I othersimilar uppers and held in nested relasassy tanning bath and left thereuntil the tanning process is completed. U By so nesting the uppers oneserves as a support for the other so that their shape is retainedalthough they may have been taken prematurely from the lasts in thefirst stage of the tanning process;

In an upper made according to this irfaterial used as there is nocutting out of Sinai-l-piecs rr'ejm'withia the peripher ef the ljatteiii merrier to ewe a shape to'the' upper as in the method ifiienufacturing seemed uppers. Merebyer, the wastage which necessarilyat the cu tingout of the blanks )'r"" o at iiis from the green hide is aderii'ofre Valuable hy pfoduct than the seraps frbih'tahnedhides; teiflgimmediately eels tor the -iiizilii'lfacture of'glu'e or other gflatiiioiie "substances; A large percehtage of the liquor used intahhageis also saved since none of the latter is Wasted ii tanning the scraps.I

I claiin as my 1hi7 eht1on:

l. The method of making seamless uppers which consists in conforming apattern of green hide to a last, subjecting it While so conformed to atanning process for a suii'icient length of time to permit the tanningprocess to give it a set shape,. remo ving it frornth'e last and.subjecting it for 'a further length of time to the tanning process untiltanned. s w

2.v The method of making seamless uppers Which consists in conforming apattern of green hide to a last, subjecting it while so conformedtoatanning process a sufficient length of time to permit the tanningprocess to give it a set shap'e ,remoying'it from the last, nesting itwith other similarly shaped patterns and subjecting the'nested group ofpatterns for a further iength of time to the tanning process untiltanned.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in resenc'eiof twosubscribing Witmasses. 1 I; I V DANI-EEG. CARTER. Witnesses:

H. J. WISECANER; R. R. WISEOAN-ER.

